June 16, 2010
Piriac - St. Marc: Salt pans and pill boxes
We have a clear, sunny day and a cold wind. Much of our route today follows a beautiful coast of large stony crags and beaches of fine white sand.
After passing through the lively fishing port of La Turballe, we leave the coast and head for Guérande, a town surrounded by nearly intact ramparts with four fortified gates which we think should be worth a visit.
The quiet road away from the coast takes us through a vast area of salt marshes. Here the world-famous fleur de sel is harvested. Fleur de sel, a very white, fine salt with snow-like crystals ("flower of salt" in French) is a hand-harvested sea salt collected by workers who scrape only the top layer of salt before it sinks to the bottom of large salt pans.
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2 years ago
It is market day in Guérande and the streets are busy. We lock up our bikes and take in the sights. At the time I am not aware that Guérande's salt is said to be of exceptional quality and I don't buy any - and I'm not sure it would have been possible to buy the small quantity that we would be willing to carry in our paniers. I would really like to see if I could tell the difference between this salt and any other.
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We leave Guérande and return to the coast, keen on seeing the ocean as often as possible on our last day before we reach the Loire and travel inland. I am beginning to feel sentimental about leaving Brittany although the hills and stormy weather weren't always to my liking. At La Baule a wide beach of fine white sand semi-circles the Bay of Le Pouliguen and we are treated to a comfortable bike path along the eight-km long beach front.
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We decide to spend one more night on the coast before we take on the next chunk of our journey, the Loire Valley. Will there be any campgrounds before we reach St. Nazaire and the mouth of the Loire? In such situations my Garmin and the Map Source software City Navigator is helpful, if not always reliable. I use the search function for accommodation and see the next campgrounds are a few kilometers down the road, or rather up, in St. Marc. It's a big and well-run campground with friendly personel, a fast-food restaurant and wifi. Perfect.
On our evening walk along the coast last century's history is evident. We see several bunkers which were part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall, built during World War II to defend against Allied invasion and to protect the strategic U-boat pens of St. Nazaire. The pill boxes lend themselves wonderfully to graffiti decoration - and yet they remain grim reminders.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 488 km (303 miles)
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